9/1/2019

Murathe: This is how I plan to stop Ruto bid

David Murathe during a press conference at his Garden Estate home in Nairobi on January 6, 2019, when he resigned from his position as Jubilee Party's interim vice-chairman. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By PATRICK LANG'AT

In Summary

He wants Constitution amended to bar a deputy president who has served for two terms from running for president.

He says many people within Jubilee and outside support ‘Stop Ruto’ movement.

Formation of broad coalition comprising top leaders part of the long-term strategy.

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After quitting his post as Jubilee Party interim vice-chairman, Mr David Murathe has revealed a three-pronged plan he hopes to use to block Deputy President William Ruto’s candidature in the 2022 presidential race.

Besides his bid to seek an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court to declare him unfit to run for the top seat after serving as the DP for two terms, Mr Murathe is also looking at using a proposed referendum, and lastly, a mass walkout from Jubilee leading to a broad-based political formation that will comprise top opposition figures.

ADVISORY OPINION

“There are a lot of people within Jubilee and outside Jubilee who share my sentiments. Going forward, the ‘Stop Ruto’ movement which we are going to start, there is no stopping it. Let them form their troops, and we have no problem, let the best side win,” Mr Murathe told KTN News.

The first course of action, Mr Murathe said in an interview, and before that at a press conference at his Nairobi home, will be seeking the advisory opinion.

If that fails, he said in the TV interview, he was considering the option of having the same question in a referendum. He wants Kenyans to vote to amend the Constitution to bar a deputy president who has served for two terms from running for president.

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He argues that the President and the DP have served a joint term and should, therefore, retire together.

“These are things we need to start discussing now. Is it possible, for instance, for the President now, after serving two terms, to then go back and say he wants to be elected as deputy president?” Mr Murathe asked.

POLITICAL FORMATION

The legal questions aside, central in Mr Murathe’s plan is a political answer — a monumental party, or coalition, that he says will have all the big political actors in Kenya.

“If Raila or Kalonzo wants to team up with Uhuru in a political formation, and they are not comfortable to hook up as long as so and so are part of it, then you are looking at maybe an entirely different formation,” Mr Murathe said.

Meanwhile, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui has called for a stop to the 2022 debate. “This is not the path we should take as a nation,” Governor Kinyanjui said.